


Affairs of the Heart

by Tarlan



Category: Eureka
Genre: M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-03
Updated: 2014-01-03
Packaged: 2018-01-07 07:37:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1117254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tarlan/pseuds/Tarlan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack hated being slow, but he never realized that he was also dense.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Affairs of the Heart

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Vexed_Wench](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vexed_Wench/gifts).



Jack recalled Henry's apology all those years back during what he called the _Dumb and Dumber_ event, when Henry had experienced what Jack had to deal with every day of his life - a mind that couldn't work at the same speed as everyone else in this town. At the time of that apology, Jack had shrugged it off because he hadn't known any different. Now he hated how slow his mind seemed in comparison to that smarter version of himself, finally understanding why others had always looked down on him and mocked his lack of intelligence.

Despite the massive difference in their I.Q. levels, Henry had never been ashamed to be his best friend, and he'd always gone that extra mile to try to simplify things so Jack could understand. Even Stark had got that gleeful glint in his eyes whenever he had to dumb-down whatever experiment or gizmo had gone wrong, though Jack had enjoyed deliberately dumbing it down even further just to annoy or taunt him. It was so worth it to watch Stark splutter in indignation or sigh heavily in exasperation.

If was different with Allison. She had never openly mocked his lack of understanding before, or turned her head away from him in embarrassment, and it was as if his eyes had opened for the very first time, finally seeing the chasm that lay between them. He knew she loved him but if love was all you needed then he and Abby would still be together.

He walked away from their relationship that day, finally accepting that it wasn't to be, and he was... okay, maybe not happy but content when she started seeing Trevor Grant a few weeks later. She glowed when she was with Grant in a way that she had never glowed for him.

Jack sank down into his chair in his office and stared around, wondering if this was how his life would be from now on; mirroring Sheriff Cobb's life until he grew fat and old and eventually retired, alone, though hopefully with all his limbs still attached. Well, alone except for some grandkids eventually, though he didn't like to think of Zoe growing up and getting married, and having kids of her own. Knowing his luck she would still be with Hair Boy, except Lucas was a good kid really.

The door opened sharply and Fargo rushed in, eyes wide and breath coming in harsh gasps as if he had run all the way here from... wherever. Back in the early days, Jack would have been on his feet in seconds, ready to leap into action... but this was Fargo. Over the years he had learned to wait until he'd heard the whole story before leaping into action. It wasn't laziness. Okay, yeah, it was... but nine times out of ten, Fargo's distress calls turned out to be the equivalent of a hangnail, and they had gotten infinitely worse since he had handed over responsibility for Global Dynamics to Henry six months earlier, and broke up with Robo!Holly at the same time.

"Sheriff! There's a riot over at Café Diem."

"A riot?" Jack frowned, narrowing his eyes. "Vincent hasn't spiked the coffee... again?"

Fargo gave him that pleading look.

"If this turns out to be two old ladies with handbags at ten paces, I'm going to throw you in my jail cell for disturbing the peace. My peace," he stressed as he dragged himself to his feet and followed Fargo out the door.

Two hours later, Jack unlocked the jail cell reluctantly, and told Fargo to go home. Reluctant because, for all his ' _chicken little_ ' attitude, Jack enjoyed Fargo's company. He'd been the first person to make him feel welcome in this town, even if it was so he could use Jack as a human guinea pig for an A.I. experiment. Jack smiled wryly. He and S.A.R.A.H. still had a beautiful friendship even though he felt as if he was sharing the bunker more with Fargo these days. Every time he turned around Fargo was there, fiddling with... something... and Jack had to admit that he ignored it because the bunker felt empty even with S.A.R.A.H. for company. She was more excited to see Deputy Andy, and he really didn't want to know what Andy and S.A.R.A.H. got up to in that closet.

Jack had missed having another real person in the house after Zoe left for Harvard, and Fargo was surprisingly funny. Jack couldn't recall a single time when he'd looked down on him for his lack of brilliance. Not even when he took over as head of Global after the time travel incident and gained an ego to rival Stark's.

Pulling off his gun belt, Jack dropped it on the side cabinet and sighed when S.A.R.A.H. greeted him with, "Welcome home, Jack. Douglas is fine tuning my refrigeration controls. Would you like an ice cold beer?"

Walking into the kitchen area, Jack was not surprised to see Fargo's wide eyes appear just above the level of the counter. ' _Douglas_ ' had practically moved in over the past six months. An eager smile followed as Fargo stood up and took the filled glass from the dispenser and handed it across to Jack.

"S.A.R.A.H. has the new Hobbit movie," he stated excitedly, "And I ordered pizza."

Jack relented. He was more of a sports fan but the first movie hadn't been so bad, and he'd even enjoyed the re-runs of Buffy when watched with Fargo. He smiled, shaking his head when Fargo bounded over to the door moments later to collect the pizzas. Jack was surprised as they had stopped delivering after the whole B.R.A.D. disintegrating one of their guys incident. Fargo must have done or said something to make them change their minds, and Jack was definitely not going to complain about that.

Beer, pizza, and a movie. It was practically a date.

The thought froze in Jack's head, the pizza slice drooping from his hand as Fargo dropped to the couch beside him, tucking right into his personal space as always these days. He turned his head slowly to meet Fargo's bright, intelligent eyes.

"Are we dating?"

Fargo's grinned tightened but he didn't deny it, leaving Jack feeling stunned. He really was this dense, he thought, and for the first time he took a long, hard look at Douglas Fargo. Jack was probably the only person other than Henry who looked at Fargo and thought of him as a kid, yet there was barely more than eight years between their ages. Jack was more than five years older than Allison and he'd never once thought of her as a kid. So why did he think of Fargo that way?

Douglas had a boyish face, and he often acted giddy and immature around Jack like a puppy, but then, so did most of these geniuses, including Allison and even Henry when something had fired him up.

Jack blinked hard, and opened his mouth to say something - anything - only to feel the hot press of lips against his own as Fargo took the initiative and kissed him first.

Jack could never be sure what happened next because his brain short-circuited. When he next became truly aware, he was lying in his bed upstairs with Douglas wrapped around him. The black rimmed glasses were on the bedside table next to Jack's wristwatch, and Jack hadn't felt this good in a long, long time.

"I don't get it," he muttered. "I always thought you hero-worshiped Stark. Why would you want to be with someone..."

Douglas leaned up on one elbow and looked down at Jack.

"Stupid? Like you?" he said, adding the words that Jack had not been able to state out loud. Shrugging one shoulder, Douglas leaned over and kissed him.

"Intelligence is overrated," he stated, and years later, he was still showing Jack how little a high I.Q. mattered in affairs of the heart.

END


End file.
